Molly Taylor
I work collaboratively with designers and source materials sustainably, selecting silhouettes and textures that support the emotional and narrative tone of each image. Often, the garment serves as the starting point- shaping the concept and guiding the visual direction. Other times, I seek out specific pieces that are essential to evoking a particular atmosphere or feeling. My practice is rooted in an attraction to unconventional beauty, drawing on the grotesque, the fantastical and the surreal. Through my work, I explore the relationship between garment and body, using fashion as a sculptural and symbolic tool within constructed, dreamlike worlds.
Chimera emerges from the fragmented landscapes of memory, where dreams and nightmares collide in strange, theatrical forms. Shaped by the vivid distortions of childhood imagination—and touched by the curious logic and iconography of classical fairytales—the project weaves together elements of absurdism, surrealism, and noir-inspired cinema. Influenced by the sharp silhouettes and bold aesthetics of 1960s fashion, Chimera explores the coexistence of opposites: elegance and grotesque, beauty against absurdity. Its visual world unfolds in a renaissance-inspired palette, shaped by asymmetrical forms and hints of brutalist design. Garments are integral to my process, sourced sustainably or created by designers.
The title Chimera carries layered meanings: a mythological monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail; a biological organism composed of genetically distinct cells; a distant, unattainable dream; and a grotesque creation of the imagination. These definitions reflect the essence of the project—a space where contradictions coexist. Chimera resists definition, shifting between beauty and horror, reality and illusion, mirroring its exploration of memory, identity, and the surreal logic of the subconscious.
Find more of Molly’s work below: